1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic imaging devices and, in particular, to CMOS imagers having a minimum number of analog components in each pixel.
2. Description of Related Art
There presently exists many alternatives to CCD sensors for generating video or still images. The various schemes can be grouped into two basic classes, depending upon whether signal amplification is performed at each pixel site or in support circuits outside the pixel array. Passive-pixel sensors perform amplification outside the array. Passive pixel sensors exhibits pixel simplicity and maximized optical fill factor. Active-pixel sensors include an amplifier at each pixel site. Active pixel sensors optimize signal transfer and sensitivity.
The simplest passive pixel comprises a photodiode and an access transistor. The photo-generated charge is passively transferred from each pixel to downstream circuits. The integrated charge must, however, be efficiently transferred with low noise and non-uniformity. Since each column of pixels often shares a common row or column bus for reading the signal, noise and non-uniformity suppression are typically facilitated in the xe2x80x9ccolumnxe2x80x9d buffer servicing each bus. One example of a passive pixel implementation is shown in FIG. 1. It uses a buffer consisting of a transimpedance amplifier with capacitive feedback to yield reasonable sensitivity considering the large bus capacitance. Such charge-amplification was not generally practical for on-chip implementation in early MOS imaging sensors. Accordingly, alternative schemes compatible with NMOS technology were used. The basic scheme shown in FIG. 2 was mass-produced by Hitachi for camcorders. The key refinements over the FIG. 1 scheme include anti-blooming control and circuitry for reducing fixed pattern noise. Though these imagers were inferior to the emerging charge coupled device (CCD) imagers available at the time, similar MOS imagers are still being offered commercially today.
Subsequent efforts at improving passive-pixel imager performance have also focused on column buffer enhancements. The column buffer was improved by using an enhancement/depletion inverter amplifier to provide reasonably large amplification in a small amount of real estate. Its 40 lux sensitivity was still nearly an order of magnitude below that of competing CCD-based sensors. Others worked to enhance sensitivity and facilitate automatic gain control via charge amplification in the column buffer. More recently, the capacitive-feedback transimpedance amplifier (CTIA) concept of FIG. 1 has served as a basis for further development, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,043,820 and 5,345,266. The CTIA is nearly ideal for passive-pixel readout if the problems with temporal noise pickup and fixed-pattern noise are adequately addressed.
Though much progress has been made in developing passive-pixel imagers, their temporal S/N performance is still fundamentally inferior to competing CCD imagers. Their bus capacitance translates to read noise of xcx9c100 exe2x88x92. CCDs, on the other hand, typically have read noise of 20 to 40 exe2x88x92 at video frame rates. The allure of producing imagers with conventional MOS fabrication technologies rather than esoteric CCD processes (which usually require many implantation steps and complex interface circuitry) encouraged the development of active-pixel sensors. In order to mitigate the noise associated with the bus capacitance, amplification was added to the pixel via the phototransistor. One such approach called a Base-Stored Image Sensor (BASIS) used a bipolar transistor in emitter follower configuration with a downstream correlated double sample to suppress random and temporal noise. By storing the photogenerated-signal on the phototransistor""s base to provide charge amplification, the minimum scene illumination was reduced to 10xe2x88x923 lux in a linear sensor array. However, the minimum scene illumination was higher (10xe2x88x922 lux) in a two-dimensional BASIS imager having 310,000 pixels because the photoresponse non-uniformity was relatively high (xe2x89xa62%). These MOS imagers had adequate sensitivity, but their pixel pitch was too large at about 13 xcexcm. This left the problem of shrinking the pixel pitch while also reducing photoresponse non-uniformity.
Since the incorporation of bipolar phototransistors is not strictly compatible with mainstream CMOS processes, some approaches have segregated photodetection and signal amplification. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,696 and 5,083,016, for example, describe active-pixel sensors essentially comprising a three-transistor pixel with photodiode. These implementations still exhibit inadequate performance. The ""696 patent, for example, augments the basic source-follower configuration of the ""016 patent with a column buffer that cancels fixed pattern noise, but adds a fourth transistor that creates a floating node vulnerable to generation of random offsets for charge-pumping and concomitant charge redistribution. The ""016 patent offers a method for reducing offset errors, but not with adequate accuracy and resolution to be useful for competing with CCDs. Furthermore, these and other similar approaches requires 3-4 transistors in the pixel (at least one of which is relatively large to minimize 1/f noise) in addition to the photodiode. These implementations also require off-chip signal processing for best S/N performance because none addresses the dominant source of temporal noise. In order to eliminate or greatly suppress the reset noise (kTC) generated by resetting the detector capacitance, a dedicated memory element is usually needed, either on-chip of off-chip, to store the reset voltage to apply correlated double sampling and coherently subtract the correlated reset noise while the photo-generated voltage is being read.
This basic deficiency was addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,515 by developing an active pixel sensor (APS) that uses intra-pixel charge transfer to store the reset charge at each pixel at the start of each imaging frame. The floating gate APS facilitates correlated double sampling with high efficiency by adding several transistors and relying on a photogate for signal detection. The concomitant drawbacks, however, are intractable because they increase imager cost. The former adds several transistors to each pixel and several million transistors to each imager thereby reducing production yield. The latter is not compatible with standard CMOS gate fabrication so a non-standard process must be developed. These deficiencies were tackled in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,576,763 and 5,541,402 issued to Ackland et al. and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,587,596 and 5,608,243 issued to Chi et al. Ackland addressed the image lag issues associated with the intra-pixel charge transfer means. But his approach still requires a non-standard CMOS process. Chi reduced pixel complexity by using the simplest possible active pixel comprising only a phototransistor and reset MOSFET. Chi""s implementation still suffers from reset noise and compromises spectral response at longer wavelengths because the photodiode is in an n-well.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an active-pixel low-noise imaging system for implementation in CMOS or in other semiconductor fabrication technologies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a low-noise amplifier for an imaging system that efficiently suppresses reset noise.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an integrated low-noise amplifier for an imaging system that has low cost and low power consumption while exhibiting low temporal and fixed pattern noise.
These objects and the advantages of the present invention are accomplished by circuitry at each pixel consisting of a photodetector and three transistors. The first transistor serves as the driver of a source follower during signal read and as the driver of a transimpedance amplifier during signal reset to suppress reset noise without having to implement correlated double sampling using either on-chip or off-chip memory. The second transistor is an access MOSFET used to read the signal from each pixel and multiplex the signal outputs from an array of pixels. The third transistor is a MOSFET that resets the detector after the integrated signal has been read and the detector sense node has effectively been xe2x80x9cpinnedxe2x80x9d by the transimpedance amplifier.